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Federal Oversight of Trucking: The Saga of Hours-of-Service Regulation
Hours-of-service regulations control how many hours a semi-truck driver can work in a given length of time so drivers get the rest they need to help prevent fatigue-related truck accidents.
January 21, 2012 /Law and Legal PR News/ -- Federal Oversight of Trucking: The Saga of Hours-of-Service Regulation
Hours-of-service regulations are the federal safety rules that control how many hours a semi-truck driver can work in a given length of time. Known as HOS regulations, they attempt to see that over-the-road drivers get the rest they need to help prevent fatigue-related truck accidents.
First enacted in 1939, the HOS regulations have caused intense political drama in recent times.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was created in 1999 under the U.S. Department of Transportation. The mission of FMCSA is "to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses." FMCSA proposed revisions to the HOS regulations in 2000 to take into account changes in modern trucking like equipment and road upgrades.
Since that time, HOS regulations have been at the center of a tug of war between two clearly defined sides. On one side are largely Republicans and the trucking industry with concerns that allowing drivers more time away from driving between shifts for rest will increase the costs of moving freight by truck, bringing economic hardship on the industry and increasing consumer prices.
On the other side are largely Democrats, labor organizations and safety advocates pushing for more required rest time for semi drivers to keep them healthier and prevent fatigue-related truck accidents, injuries and fatalities.
The last decade has seen year after year of HOS conflict during which the FMCSA has done studies, proposed changes, gathered public commentary and had its HOS regulations challenged in court by a coalition of labor and safety advocates.
On the last day of the Bush administration, an interim version of HOS became final that, among other things, lets a semi-truck driver work up to 11 hours in a work day with a 34-hour so-called restart period during which a driver is off duty between work weeks.
Since the Obama administration took over, it has been dealing with the fallout of the lawsuit that challenged these Bush-era HOS regulations. Operating under the framework of a court settlement, the FMCSA proposed new HOS rules in December 2010 that, among other things, considered reducing the daily driving limit from 11 to 10 hours.
The American Trucking Association, independent truckers and some Republican members of Congress oppose this reduction. Labor and safety advocates and some Democratic U.S. senators support the proposed change, citing the role of fatigue in road safety.
The FMCSA first missed a July 2011 deadline for finalizing the rules, and again in late October, 2011, the agency failed to publish its new HOS rules as scheduled. The agency and the parties on the other side of the lawsuit must report to the federal court handling the case by November 28, 2011.
Interested people and organizations await the outcome with keen interest.
What is not debatable, however, is that any accident involving a semi-truck is highly dangerous. If you are involved in such a truck accident, be sure to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to help you investigate the accident and preserve your legal rights.
Article provided by Law Offices of Carcione, Cattermole, Dolinski, Okimoto, Stucky, Ukshini, Markowitz & Carcione, LLP Visit us at www.carcionelaw.com
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